easy brilliance
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: AphReject, oneshot. Blackened bricks masquerading as food, a fool who thinks he can do as he pleases, and a kindness that goes beyond companionship. Mention if used, thx. *Happy birthday, Mango!*


**easy brilliance**

A PJO oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus_ characters belong to Rick Riordan, not to me. Oh, and this pairing was discovered by my pal, **BlueMango**, so it'd be nice to give her a little mention if you write them! Thanks! Read, review, and enjoy! *For **BlueMango**—happy birthday, hon. B3

- ^-^3

Iris hummed quietly and halfheartedly to herself while she baked in the back of Rainbow Organic Foods & Lifestyles. She worked on mixing a new concoction in one bowl while a different new recipe finished cooking. She placed the bowl down and opened the oven—Fleecy still had yet to forgive her for installing what the wind nymph called a "dangerous mortal machine that will someday burn down the store"—and saw that her new hiking bars appeared a little…well done. Hmm. So Iris would have to make some adjustments. But, honestly, she liked her oven. As a minor goddess, she didn't have much.

But she had her very own oven.

Someone coughed and knocked on the other side of the window over the tiny sink in the back office of R.O.F.L. which Iris had turned into a makeshift kitchen over the decades. Iris flicked her hand, and the window opened. And in did Hermes stick his head.

"It smells…good in here," Hermes stated, adding the last bit cautiously as he saw the dangerous flicker in her eyes.

"I'm trying out some new things," the goddess presented, and she passed him one of the new hiking bars. "Here, have a taste."

"That's all right. I've still got some deliveries to do."

Iris gave him a look. "And I'm just trying to give you something to restore your energy."

His nervous yet still mischievous grin held his remark: "Restore it or deplete it?" So she gave up on insisting.

"So you've got a delivery for me?" She wiped her hands and stood in front of the sink, as if they had this kind of exchange often and always through the window.

"No, not today." Hermes squinted at the stars that began to show now that day was giving way to night. "Hey, wanna play hooky?"

"Not really." It was said without malice, because she didn't begrudge him the suggestion. He often thought she needed to play hooky.

"Not even for one day of the year?"

Iris couldn't help the small smile. "It's no longer day, Hermes."

"Well, no, but not even one night?"

Iris moved her arm, gesturing to everything that littered available counter space. "Genius is ninety-percent effort, and ten-percent talent. Didn't anyone ever tell you that?"

The god stroked his chin and shrugged. "Meh. Not sure. But just because you're a goddess doesn't mean you have to act like one year-round." He raised his eyebrows. "In fact, if you read the myths, we're _supposed_ to misbehave on occasion."

She chuckled. "Maybe the others, but I like myself fine just the way I am."

She didn't think she'd said anything funny or shocking, but Hermes gave her a long look before breaking into another grin, but this one was less impish and more…heartfelt? That seemed to be a good adjective. "Then may I suggest you simply try something new?"

Iris sighed exasperatedly. "You won't get off my back until you spirit me away from here for a short while, will you?"

"Let's call it a 'birthday' instead of a night off."

She wanted to remark about the silliness of his idea, but arguing with Hermes was like telling a demigod hero to give up on his or her quest—pointless and tiresome. "I'll meet you outside in a moment."

Iris left the back and found Fleecy. She told the nymph to hold the fort down while she stepped out, and Fleecy began floating when she heard Iris would pause baking for a bit.

Out in front, Hermes took Iris' hand and led her around the back of the co-op. "Fleecy was elated—you didn't plan anything with her to get me out of there, did you?"

Hermes laughed, and his black curls bounced around the tips of his ears. "No, but now you've given me a future idea!"

"Great…" She stopped talking for fear she might give him more ideas. Plus, she liked letting him lead her around, though she wondered where they were going.

He seemed to read her mind. "Don't worry. We're not going very far. I know you'd strangle me if I kept you _too_ long…"

"No," Iris confessed as her curiosity peaked when he slowed upon entering a clearing. "What are we doing here?"

Hermes held up one hand to shush her, and then he tugged on her hand with his other, until they both sat on the grass together. Granted, the clearing was nice and the grass was soft and the crickets were beginning to take up their tunes. But she really had to wonder.

She didn't press him again when he gave her hand a little squeeze. He sat leisurely and stared out into the coming darkness, breathing evenly.

"Just wait a little bit," he murmured after some time.

Iris glanced at his handsome profile, barely seeing outlines in the scant moonlit. But then his face lit up gently with a soft yellow glow, and Iris tore her eyes away. With a tiny gasp, she understood why he'd chosen this spot for her to turn her brain off.

The clearing was filling with hundreds of fireflies.

"It's beautiful," the goddess confessed. She held the palm of her free hand out and watched a particularly fat one lazily fly across her skin.

"I knew you'd like it here. Fireflies are such wondrous creatures, aren't they?" In the lemony glow, his eyes looked pine green. She mused that her brown eyes might look golden in the same moment.

Iris nodded in agreement. "I don't remember the last time I appreciated a creature—insect or animal…" She sighed. "You don't really think about it when you're a goddess without a representative animal."

There was a long pause between them, and then Hermes blurted, "I'll give you fireflies then."

Iris laughed. "Hermes, that's absurd! Sure, I like them, but why?"

"Because they light up the night the same way your colors brighten up the day."

Heat flooded her cheeks. Times like this told her why she liked Hermes and liked being around him—they could be millennia old, and he'd still manage to make her feel like a giddy young girl. "Nevertheless," she protested, "you can't assign me an animal. Only Lord Zeus can."

He chuckled and pulled her arm across his chest. "I'll talk to Father about it, then." And then he kissed her, as if to seal the deal.

When Iris pulled away, her eyes drifted back to the fireflies, but this time she rested her head on Hermes' shoulder. "Thanks for pulling me away from the store, Hermes."

"Anytime, Iris." He drummed his fingers on the inside of her arm. "We can stay out all night, if you like."

She tapped her finger to her chin. "Well, I think I _do_ have a snack bar or two in my pocket."

"Ah…I'm not very hungry for that," he insisted, and with another kiss, Iris decided she wasn't very hungry for food, either.

- ^-^3

**I have this lovely head-canon that Hermes occasionally drops in on Iris like this, and sometimes, yeah, she'll fully swoon. But their relationship is so easy and natural to write… *sighs happily* Maybe it's just that Hermes is so easy to write/love? XD As for the title…I guess it's how to describe the easy way Hermes reads Iris? :O Hope you enjoyed it, Mango—took me long enough finally to write them for you, huh? ;P**

**Thanks for reading, and please review! And check out my other PJO fics and the Aphrodite's Rejects forum (link in profile) if you enjoyed this story!**

**-mew-tsubaki :]**


End file.
